Chapter Text
Toya preferred the night shift, even if that meant that less staff was around and he was often treated with less respect than the day shift doctors and nurses. But the night shift often had strange cases and weirdos that he found interesting. 'If you get your medical license, we could work together!' He heard his younger brother say things like that constantly. It was always "Don't you want to be a doctor?" and "I could never do your job!" and never "Thank you for keeping patients alive and cared for", which was really what being a nurse was about.
But tonight was different. Tonight, a familiar pair of red wings came into the ER just as Toya clipped his hospital credentials to his scrubs. "Oh my god, it's Hawks!" one of the female nurses whispered.
"Stop fangirling, will you?" Toya rolled his eyes.
"Oh, come on, Todoroki, you have to admit that Hawks is at least a little attractive!" One nurse said.
"Why would he think that? He's a guy!" Another said. She looked at Toya and watched as he narrowed his eyes and tilted his head slightly, leaning forward against the reception counter. "Oh. I mean...unless."
Toya closed his eyes and shook his head lightly with a sigh. "Just go take care of him, would you?" He waved the women away from him and went back to working on the charts in front of him. He looked up once to see that, even with the two nurses drooling over him, Hawks glanced in Toya's direction frequently. Toya wasn't surprised that Hawks remembered him, given that they had just seen each other a week ago. And three weeks before that. And at least a handful of other times in the last six months. Of course, in most cases, Toya simply pointed another nurse in Hawks' direction because every time he came into the ER, Hawks' presence created an unnecessary stir that Toya found grating to his ears. It didn't help that Hawks often worked with Endeavor, either.
"Toya!" A voice called out.
Toya looked up and ahead, spotting his younger brother, Natsuo. "What are you doing here? It's...," he glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. "Almost one in the morning!"
"Since when do you care what time I stay up till?"
"Since you shouldn't be wandering around at night." Toya sighed, "Well, you're here, so why?"
"Can I crash at your place for a few days?" Natsuo asked, keeping his voice low.
"No," Toya said. He shut one chart, set it on the 'finished' pile, and opened the next chart. He felt his brother continue to stare him down. Toya knew he didn't have to ask why, but he also knew that without Natsuo or Shoto at the house, Fuyumi would be left alone with Endeavor. Not like she minded, but Toya worried that Fuyumi was always simply acting strong, rather than being genuinely content with her life in that house.
"I'll clean and cook while you're at work," Natsuo said.
Toya looked up again. "I don't want you going through my shit. But I'll take you up on the cooking offer."
"So, that's a yes?"
Toya sighed, "Yes. Go wait in the nurses' lounge until my shift is over, though."
"Toya, I'm 19, I can walk to your place-"
"Try it and I call Mom so she can ice the burns I'll give you." With that, Natsuo begrudgingly took the guest pass Toya handed him and ventured further into the hospital.
The two female nurses who tended to Hawks came back, giggling and gossiping. "So, what was it?" Toya asked, already annoyed with their demeanor.
"Oh, just some stomach pain! We're waiting on one of the doctors to fill his script." One said, not bothering to stop and fully explain their process as they walked away with autographs on their notepads.
"Fucking useless twits." Toya sighed to himself and grabbed the chart the nurses left behind, approaching Hawks' bedside.
Hawks smirked, "Hey there."
With only a brief glimpse, Toya immediately noticed the sheen of sweat on Hawks' face. "Since the other two didn't seem to pay much attention to the reason you're here, I'm going to go through the process again, okay?"
"Don't give them too much grief, Todoroki, it's not their fault!" Hawks said, gently coughing and forcing himself to swallow a groan in pain.
"It will be if you die from whatever is causing you this much pain," Toya said, setting the chart aside long enough to check Hawks' heart and blood pressure. "Stomach pain, huh? Can you lift your shirt for me?"
"Absolutely," Hawks said, already reaching for the hem of his shirt. He glanced down at Toya's badge, noticing his full name for once, paired with the mandatory identification photo, Toya wasn't smiling in it and looked as if he would rather be anywhere else than there. "Toya, huh?"
"I'm going to examine your abdomen. You'll feel a bit of pressure," Toya said, ignoring Hawks' obvious attempt at flirting. He pressed the tips of his fingers gently against Hawks' stomach, moving them around to test every inch for injury. "He works out frequently.' He thought as he felt defined muscle, even in Hawks' semi-relaxed state. Then, he felt it. Hawks tilted his head back slightly, steeling his jaw to avoid letting a single sound out. "Well, good news is that it's not your stomach. Bad news is that it's your appendix." Toya said, pulling his hands away. "Which means we need to get you admitted for surgery, birdboy."
"Oh, nicknames now? Didn't know we'd gotten that close," Hawks forced a chuckle. "Ow," he groaned, holding his side.
"I see a lot of Pro Heroes, but not as much as I see your feathered ass in here."
"Huh, strange, I don't remember having feathers there. Guess you've got a wandering eye," Hawks said. He smirked as he watched Toya roll his eyes and let another nurse handle the admission process.
"Keep me updated until he goes in for surgery," Toya told the other nurses before leaving the floor to locate his brother. He reached the nurses' lounge and entered, finding Natsuo with his face pressed against a textbook, asleep. It was a little past three in the morning. "Hey," Toya said, shaking his brother. "Come on, let's get going before they ask me to stay another five hours." While his brother slowly sat up and roused from slumber, Toya went over to his locker to grab his jacket and bag. A beeping sound sent a rush of adrenaline through his body. Toya reached down and read the page, before reaching into his pocket and tossing his apartment keys at Natsuo without a word.
Toya bolted out of the nurses' lounge, rushing past the elevator and choosing to run up the stairs to the third floor. "What happened?!" He asked, rushing to Hawks' side, who was vomiting violently.
"We're moving him to surgery now!" The other nurse said, kicking the locks on the bed's wheels out of the way.
Toya followed them, keeping a hand firmly wrapped around the side railing on the bed. He felt Hawks' cover his hand, locking his fingers around Toya's knuckles. Toya turned his hand in Hawks', holding it tightly. "You're going to be alright. Just relax."
Toya stood close by, watching Hawks' vitals on the monitor, as the surgeon worked. He wasn't often in the operation rooms during the procedures. In fact, he preferred being the one to set up the surgical setting and leave before the gruesome bits started, but with the way that Hawks had latched onto Toya's hand, he wouldn't have felt right just going home knowing he was on the table with his stomach cut open. So, here Toya stood, listening to the murmurs of the surgeon and the staff as they operated, the steady beeping of the heart monitor, and subtle clicks and snips of the surgical instruments. "How long did he tell you that he was dealing with the pain?" The doctor asked.
"Approximately a day and a half. Though, I'm guessing he lied," Toya said.
"I'm going to have to agree with you," the doctor said with a sigh. "I'd place a better bet and say he was dealing with the pain for at least two, maybe three days."
"Idiot," Toya muttered, shaking his head. He glanced down at Hawks' face as he lay there, unconscious. "Doing your stupid little puppet dance for the Commission almost got you killed. Again." By the time the surgery was complete, the time was approaching five in the morning. Toya had been at work, voluntarily, for four more hours than he was scheduled. All because of a red-winged idiot who refused to be a bit more vocal about his needs.
"Want to grab breakfast?" Natsuo asked, standing outside of the nurses' lounge.
"You're still here?" Toya asked, taking his bag and jacket from his brother's hands. "I gave you the keys."
Natsuo shrugged, "I know, but you seemed worried, so I waited. How's the patient?"
"He's stable and should make a full recovery," Toya said. At least Natsuo knew better than to ask who it was or what happened. It was one of the perks of having a sibling who was entering the same career field as you. "I'm going to come back in a few hours to check on him."
"After you get some sleep, right?" Natsuo chuckled and shook his head in mocking disapproval at Toya's annoyed side-eye. "Seriously, you look like shit."
"Oh, thanks, that's what I want to hear after saving a man's life."
"I'm guessing a hot man," Natsuo smirked.
Toya looked at his brother, "I didn't say what he looked like."
"You didn't have to," Natsuo said. "The look on your face when you came in earlier said enough."
"Shut up," Toya said, staring straight ahead as they left the hospital. He glanced back as they put distance between themselves and the building, looking up at the windows on the third floor. Hawks was still unconscious due to the anesthesia when Toya left, but he knew that Hawks would be awake within a few hours. Toya wasn't in a rush to see him again, since Hawks would be laid up in his hospital room for the next week while he recovered. "Someone's gotta keep an eye on him, right?" He thought, humming to himself with a slight smirk.